Frequently Asked Questions about the Computable Document Format (CDF)

Creating and Distributing CDFs

How do I create CDFs?CDFs can be created with any Wolfram cloud or desktop content creation product. Deploy CDFs either as cloud-driven objects (which do not require the CDF Player or any other software installation) or as desktop-driven content for web embedding or standalone applications (which rely on the CDF Player and plugin to enable interactivity).
Deployment options for both cloud-driven CDF and desktop-driven CDF are available through the File menu and directly in the Wolfram Language.

How do I prepare content so that it will work interactively in CDFs?Almost all programming and computational functions available in the Wolfram Language can be used to build CDF applications. Use the Manipulate command to generate interactive content controlled by mouse-driven actions.

Can I use any Wolfram Language functionality that I want?Yes. Almost all of the Wolfram Language computational functions can be incorporated into CDFs that are distributed in the cloud or as EnterpriseCDF. However, in files distributed under FreeCDF terms for the CDF Player, some functionality is not available: non-numeric input fields, dialog windows, and data import and export (except from Wolfram-curated data sources, e.g. ChemicalData, CountryData, and WordData).

Can Mathematica run CDFs?Yes, Mathematica creates, edits, and runs CDFs.

Can I import Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other file formats into CDFs?When you create a CDF, you can import data, text, and images from Excel and Word files. You can copy equations from Word documents and paste them as MathML expressions into Mathematica and other Wolfram products. You can import content from PDF files and import all standard raster and vector image formats.

Do CDFs plug in to Microsoft Office documents or PDFs?The CDF Player plugin only supports web browsers. We are exploring the same capabilities for a number of other applications. Contact us for more details when CDF support for other applications becomes available.

What's the difference between .cdf and .nb files?Wolfram notebooks saved as .nb files are viewable but not interactive in CDF Player. Notebooks saved or exported as .cdf files make content interactive in CDF Player.

Are there restrictions on how CDFs can be distributed?CDFs generated by Mathematica or other Wolfram products are freely distributable as long as the content itself is free or in the public domain. Other terms may apply if the CDFs are being sold or otherwise commercially licensed by content creators. For more details, consult the CDF licensing options.

Can I remove the welcome screen, toolbar, or watermark logo I see when opening CDFs in CDF Player or viewing CDFs online with the web browser plugin?The presence of Wolfram branding is part of the FreeCDF licensing terms—a minimal requirement for the benefits of dynamic computation as part of your free interactive content. For commercial distribution solutions, which range from white labeling to complete content creation services, please see our other licensing options or contact us.

Can I put copy protection on my CDFs?At the moment, we do not have Digital Rights Management (DRM) for CDFs opened in CDF Player or viewed online with the web browser plugin, but we are working on making it available. If you need DRM for CDF distribution, cloudCDF may provide a solution that meets your needs.

Can I provide downloads of CDF Player from my site?Yes, you can provide a link to our download site. This ensures that those downloading always receive the latest version of CDF Player. If you have a special use for CDF Player that requires it to be distributed physically or through your organization's portal, contact us.

Can I put CDFs on my site?Yes, assuming that your usage meets the CDF licensing options and does not infringe upon any copyright or other proprietary right of any party. You may also want to add a CDF Player download icon link nearby.

How can I embed a CDF into my web page or blog?We recommend using the Wolfram Cloud for web embedding. Deploy your content from your cloud account as an embedded CDF object and you can add it to any website, just like any other rich media content. See our Web Delivery: Cloud page for details.

Alternately, you can upload the CDF to your site or a free storage account such as Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) or Dropbox.
Then, if your site allows JavaScript, just use the embed code sample and instructions provided on our Web Delivery page.
(You can also get the embed code from the CDF Web Deployment Wizard in Mathematica or other Wolfram products.) Using the Wolfram JavaScript library and embed code allows you to set default content to display to site visitors who don't have CDF Player.

Is a dedicated CDF Player available for other mobile devices?We are actively pursuing solutions for all mobile devices, including cloud-based services. Contact us for more details when CDF support for mobile platforms becomes available.

What's the difference between web-embedded CDF and cloud?Both cloud-enabled CDF and web-embedded CDF can make your website interactive. With cloud-enabled CDF, the computation and display happen on the server, and with web-embedded CDF, they happen locally in the CDF Player plugin. Cloud-enabled CDF can be simpler to create and implement. Files are hosted in your Wolfram Cloud account on our servers and are therefore readily available for embedding on any web page.

What's the difference between CDF and other document formats like DOC or PDF?When viewed through the cloud or with Wolfram CDF Player, CDFs allow a platform-independent interactive experience, exploiting dynamic computation along with standard document features. Unlike static PDF or DOC files, CDFs combine the capabilities of documents and apps into a single, computation-powered knowledge container, empowering readers to drive content and generate results live.

Where can I find existing CDFs?You'll find CDFs all over the web, as publishers and content providers have embraced the format for communicating dynamic content ranging from commercial research and information resources to textbooks, journals, and blogs. Wolfram sources include the Wolfram Demonstrations Project, Wolfram Blog, The Mathematica Journal, and Wolfram|Alpha.

How can I be sure a CDF file has no viruses or malware?Running CDF in the cloud offers the highest level of security, as all dynamic interactivity is enabled by the cloud server; there is no connection to your own machine or local systems. When the CDF is viewed in the CDF web browser plugin, the plugin is running in a sandbox mode. In this mode, access to the local file system is shut down, along with a number of other features that could affect your local environment.

When you open the CDF outside of the web browser in the standalone environment, many of the restrictions of the sandbox mode are lifted. However, CDF Player will detect any potentially risky interactive code and disable it before it's executed. At this point, CDF Player presents an option to enable or disable the interactive content. Whether you choose to enable the content depends on whether you trust the source of that content.

Using Wolfram CDF Player

Will CDF Player open all Mathematica notebooks?Yes, all Mathematica notebooks can be viewed in CDF Player, but only .cdf files will function interactively.

I've opened a notebook, but the interactive elements don't work—they're either gray boxes or images of the applet. What's wrong?The author of your notebook has not saved it as a CDF using Mathematica. You can do this conversion yourself provided that the notebook's content does not infringe upon any copyright or other proprietary right of any party.

When I open a CDF, I see a warning about dynamic content. What does that mean?Files containing interactive content can automatically evaluate code without any additional action by the user, aside from opening the file.

Certain directories, including the desktop and downloads directories, are "untrusted" by default, so opening a CDF that is stored there (or in a subdirectory of the desktop) will trigger the warning. You can click the button in the warning to enable dynamic content. For more information, see the Notebook Security tutorial.

Why can't I edit text in CDF Player?CDF Player is intended as a deployment option. If you want to edit or create applications or documents, then you need Mathematica or any other CDF content creator, such as Wolfram|Alpha.

When I install a new version of Mathematica, is the web browser plugin also upgraded?Yes. When you install the latest version of Mathematica, the latest version of the browser plugin is also installed. However, Mac OS X users will need to install the Mathematica Extras package from the DVD or disk image and restart their web browsers to upgrade the plugin.

I'm having trouble getting CDFs to work. How can I tell you about it?Please contact us with a description of the issue to help us solve the problem.

About Wolfram CDF Player

Does CDF Player work for movie or audio files?No, CDF Player is not a media player, but a runtime that specifically supports viewing and interacting with .cdf and .nb files.

Does the interactivity I see in CDF Player use other applet technologies such as Java, .NET, and Flash?No, the applets are driven by Wolfram's Mathematica-derived technology, developed in-house for more than a decade. This promotes higher-level authoring, in one language only, with the ability to assume the broad functionality of the technology, in turn making more and more refined resources available to CDF Player users.

On what platforms is CDF Player available?CDF Player is available for Windows and Mac OS X with desktop and web plugin functionality. Linux is supported with desktop functionality only. We are actively pursuing solutions for all mobile devices, including the iPad and cloud-based services, to make CDF available to anyone, anywhere. Contact us for more details when CDF support for mobile platforms becomes available.

What are the system requirements for CDF Player?CDF Player requires an Intel Pentium III 650 MHz or equivalent processor, and we recommend 1 GB+ of RAM.

I'm in a secure environment. Can my site administrator distribute CDF Player internally to my colleagues?Yes. If you are in a lab or other facility where our download site is not accessible, you can distribute CDF Player within your organization. Contact us for details.

If I received CDF Player bundled with my computer or another application, is it the same as the CDF Player I can download from here?Yes, we have licensed CDF Player for bundling with a range of hardware and software. The versions provided in OEM bundles have the same capabilities as a download version and can be upgraded the same way. To get the latest version of CDF Player, or to see whether there's been an upgrade, visit the download page.

I've purchased Mathematica. Can I open CDFs in Mathematica instead of in CDF Player?Yes. Your Mathematica installation will always supersede CDF Player if it is based on the same major version number and CDF Player is not already running.

Why do I need to download a plugin to run CDFs?The CDF Player plugin essentially gives you the whole of Mathematica, providing specialist algorithms for computation and visualization on topics ranging from engineering to finance to statistics to image processing. These calculations far surpass what standard web technologies can provide, with the speed and smooth interactivity of client-side computation. For more, see the power behind CDF.

Why is the CDF Player download so large?CDF Player provides essentially all of Mathematica—more than 3,000 built-in functions for a dozen application areas—for computation and visualization on topics ranging from engineering to finance to statistics to image processing. For more, see the power behind CDF.

Can I distribute CDFs with enhanced functionality to people who have the free CDF Player?Yes. You can work with us to provide CDFs with enhanced functionality, like importing or exporting data or non-numeric input fields. You can also consider deploying with Wolfram CDF Player Pro.

What's the difference between Wolfram CDF Player and Wolfram CDF Player Pro?Wolfram CDF Player is a runtime with advanced functionality particularly suited to all Wolfram file formats, including CDFs created by Mathematica or other sources, with newly added web plugin functionality. Wolfram CDF Player Pro, a standalone runtime with advanced functionality, is particularly suited for application deployment where data import, text input, and other typical features are required. Mathematica is the complete development tool for CDF and the world's ultimate application for enterprise-wide computation. For details, see the features comparison chart.

What's the difference between Mathematica Player and Wolfram CDF Player?Mathematica Player is an earlier Wolfram runtime. If you have Mathematica Player, upgrading to the free Wolfram CDF Player will let you use all the functionality of recent versions of Mathematica as well as the web browser plugin.